Governor Patrick visits Plymouth to trumpet cleaner waters

Governor Patrick visited Plymouth's waterfront to announce that, as of today (Friday, June 27), it is illegal for marine vessels of any size to discharge their septic systems along the Massachusetts coastline.

PLYMOUTH – When Plymouth first prohibited the discharge of marine vessel septic systems into local waters in 2006, it was nearly alone on the South Shore.

When Gov. Deval Patrick was first elected in 2006, only 16 percent of the Massachusetts coastline had similar regulations.

So it may have seemed a stretch when the Patrick Administration listed among its first goals that all of Massachusetts’ coastal waters become no discharge areas (NDA) by 2014.

Eight years later, Patrick visited Plymouth’s waterfront to announce that, as of today (Friday, June 27), that goal has been achieved. It is now illegal for marine vessels of any size to discharge their septic systems along the Massachusetts coastline.

If you travel by boat from the New Hampshire border to Cape Ann, across the entire Boston Harbor area including all of the harbor islands, out to Stellwagen Bank, around Provincetown and envelop all of Cape Cod and the islands, you are most likely in a NDA.

EEA Secretary Maeve Vallely Bartlett, noting the leadership of David Gould, Plymouth’s director of Marine and Environmental Affairs, said that “with this designation, our coastal waters are now fully protected from boat sewage discharge, providing clean resources for tourism and recreational activities like swimming and fishing, as well as improving habitat for marine life.”

“Clean and healthy coastal waters are essential for the wellbeing of the commonwealth’s economy and environment,” Patrick said. “The designation of the commonwealth’s coastal waters as a No Discharge Area means that we are protecting one of our most precious natural resources for generations to come.”